Excellence in Research and Creative Activities

Each year, the University at Albany honors special members of its community with Excellence Awards denoting exceptional contributions to the life of the campus. Three faculty members received this tribute in 2013 for Excellence in Research and Creative Activities.

Cristian Lenart, Mathematics

Dr. Cristian Lenart started his career as a computer scientist but he has since enjoyed a very successful career in mathematics research and education. He is one of the world's leading experts in modern Schubert Calculus, a subfield of enumerative geometry. During the last decade, he expanded the scope of his research to include Combinatorial Representation Theory, becoming one of the leaders in this field as well.

He is an outstanding researcher with wide mathematical interests and a curious and original mind. His broad background and pleasant personality enable him to communicate with scholars from different areas of mathematics, sharing his insights and appreciating theirs.

Professor Lenart has published over 30 research papers in refereed journals, including several papers in top journals such as the American Journal of Mathematics, Advances in Mathematics, and the Transactions of the American Mathematical Society. He has tremendous momentum in his current research, with several papers submitted for publication. The quality of his research results is exceptionally high and widely praised.

Individual research grants are extremely competitive in the area of pure mathematics, and professor Lenart's funding history is especially strong and impressive. He has had continuous support from the National Science Foundation since 2004.

He has been invited to present his research at numerous national and international conferences, and at the top mathematics research institutes in the world. He has been invited by the NSF to serve on proposal review panels, and co-organized several special workshops and sessions for the American Mathematical Society. Because of his strong background in computer science, Professor Lenart has also written software packages that are used by his students, and his worldwide colleagues to tackle difficult numerical problems that arise in their research.

Professor Lenart is not only an outstanding researcher, he is also a valued teacher and mentor, and a good citizen in the broad mathematical community.